I'm not close enough to it to get any actual pics of the site but I'll tape a photo of the smoke and helicopters and put it up in a few mins if you want. I'd recommended checking out the KTLA website (local network affiliate), that's the channel we've been following the story on here.

The one reason I think it could be a terrorist attack is because it nose-dived into the building. Unless it was a student pilot and he pushed the yoke in too far, but still the plane would have recovered. Also, a system failure is unlikely, since the elevators would not just move by themselves.

VictorAlphaIf the pilot ran out of fuel and was trying to extend the glide, he might have pulled back on the stick causing a stall. Trying to recover from a low altitude stall might have caused the nose dive. Just a thought on how an accident could have happened.My reading though said that only one guys described it a nose dive, so it doesn't look like we have a whole heckuva lot of info yet.

FAIRFAX DISTRICT -- A small plane nosedived into an apartment complex Friday, setting the three-story building ablaze and injuring 10 people.

Five of the victims were critically injured, said Fire Department Battalion Chief Bob Franco.

Witnesses saw the plane plunge into the Fairfax district building about 3:50 p.m.

"I looked up and saw the plane just do a nosedive," area resident Aaron Hooker said. "It didn't seem real."

The building, which had about 30 units. burned fiercely at first, but firefighters had the blaze under control in about a half-hour.

The origin of the plane was not known. A Federal Aviation Administration duty officer said she knew only that a small plane had crashed.

Television cameraman Adam Krolfifer of High Point, N.C., was in line waiting to see a taping of "The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn" when he heard a plane overhead.

"We were waiting at CBS Studios. I heard a plane, like he was doing acrobatic moves. About four minutes later, we saw a huge plume of black smoke," said Krolfifer, who works for WGHP and was in Los Angeles on vacation.

"It sounded like it was making maneuvers, the engine getting stressed out," he said.

Police and firefighters helped stunned residents from the structure that had at least 30 units.

A Federal Aviation Administration duty officer said she knew only that a small plane had crashed.

Seriously though, anybody who thinks this is the work of terrorists needs to get their head examined. Taking out a slum in LA is a big step backwards from taking down the WTC.

A few years ago a crazy man with a gun took over a bus headed downtown (Seattle), shot the driver and forced the bus off a bridge. Nobody ever thought terrorists, and guess what? It turned out to be the fault of one crazy guy with a gun.

Wow, I used to live a block down the street on Genesee. My landlord's wife is probably in the middle of it all telling the paramedics and firemen to get out of her neighborhood because she doesn't like strangers. Strong as an ox but dumb as a box.

He_Hate_Me: There's no airport big or small near the Fairfax District.

I really wish this didn't make it to Fark and I don't care if it's on other media outlets. We really need to get over this idea that every damn thing that happens in the world is related to terrorism.

toasty, not only did it make it to fark but it was INSTANTLY approved for the main page with no delay. this was undoubtedly meant to appease me by preventing 6,000 regular farkers from submitting the story over and over and over again thereby causing me to scream and bang my head on my desk harder than usual.

Our runner here at the office was just out there making his rounds a few minutes ago. He said traffic surprisingly is not too bad since most people know about the accident and are avoiding that area so unless you're going to be headed towards or passing through the Beverly Center district traffic will be slightly worse than usual but not at a standstill. Avoid Melrose, Fairfax, Beverly and surrounding areas if possible.

Yeah, but those three story apartment buildings still reach unnaturally towards the heavens. Typical Los Angeles arrogance.

I'm assuming that's sarcasm. LA is the one city where the buildings aren't tall enough. 95% of our buildings are less than 5 storys tall, forcing the city to continuously expand outward and making it increasingly difficult to get from place to place. Also, the lack of a good public transportation system pretty much guarantees you're stuck in traffic no matter where you want to go.

I'm sure LA resident can relate; I was there for a couple of weeks, and got stuck on "the 5" for two hours. Not much of a traffic jam story, except that it was 2-4 AM. Once we got the hell out of dodge, we didn't go back. I'm sure this little fire has screwed things up even worse.

I thought He Hate Me's post about it being stupid to build a three story apartment building near an international airport was funny, because Fairfax isn't near the airport and three stories isn't really that tall. It was sarcasm.

I actually thought about giving a thoughtful response that included aerodynamics, general aviation aircraft and the like. But then again I took a step back and remembered this is Fark. Instead, I shall wait to see what else pops up.

The building is 8 miles from Santa Monica Airport. I havn't been there, so I can't comment on how big it is, but unknowingly, most people that aren't rural DO live near a regional airport. In nashville we have the International Airport, then 4 smaller ones spread across the city. So if you live in Davidson County,(municipal Nashville), you cannot be more that 15-20 miles from one. I'm sure the number of smaller airports in LA is rather large. I'm guessing 10-15.

I'm sure the number of smaller airports in LA is rather large. I'm guessing 10-15.

You got that right. Off the top of my head, I can think of LAX (the major one), Burbank, Van Nuys, Santa Monica, Long Beach, John Wayne (further out there, in Orange County), Ontario and I'm sure there are many others I've never heard of.

I live a few blocks away and I can tell you, without a doubt, this WAS NOT TERRORISM. Just a tragic accident.

The plane narrowly missed Fairfax High School, which was out at the time, but their field was full of about 100 or so student athletes practicing after school. Some are speculating that the pilot may have lost control, aimed for the field, realized it was full of people and swerved at the last minute. However, amateur video reveals that the plane was in a vertical, spiraling dive, so I doubt the pilot had any control at all. Also, the "hole" in the roof of the apartment building is consistent with a vertical impact.

While this is, traditionally, a Jewish neighborhood, it's still pretty diverse. In my area there area actually more Asians than anyone else. The Grove (a large outdoor shopping mall) and Farmers Market are nearby, both full of locals and tourists, as well as CBS Studios. Add to that the fact that you would have basically every major Hollywood tourist spot to choose from within a 2 or 3 mile radius, it seems odd that someone attempting to inflict harm would choose a small apartment building as a target.

Also, two bedroom / two bath apartments in my building run from $1500 - 1800. Hardly an LA "slum" as someone put it above. This is actually a pretty nice place to live, unless a plane lands on your head.

Also, drove home from work about an hour after it happened, driving East down Wilshire, and I couldn't tell a difference in traffic from what it normally is, which says something about driving in LA. If you're heading north on Fairfax or La Brea, however, good luck.

Pinks is a hot dog stand that sells just about every type of hot dog you can imagine and every single one is damn tasty.

In-and-Out is a chain burger joint that sells mainly 3 types of burgers. Regular, with cheese, and the double-double but you can ask for variations of them that aren't shown on the menu. They're damn good too.

Well fark me. After all the hubub about how it was live and the dramatic footage, It looks to have been actually taped now. Sorry for mis-leading you, but if you're interested, it is worth watching anyway.

C'mon, Pink's Three-peat L.A. Laker Dog (i hate the name but it is delicious) is three dogs, like 5 pieces of bacon, chili, cheese, and onions wrapped in a big tortilla! Swimming in that orange grease, it will probably take a full year off your life but its one of the crappy years at the end. That's got to be at least the Tom Hanks or Mel Gibson of bad for you foods.

If you have 45 minutes to spare waiting in a line for a "Pink's" Hot Dog, go right ahead. I'd rather go to Oki Dog on Pico for a Pastrami Burrito. In'n'Out Burger is definitely the best regional burger chain in California, but check out Original Tommy's on Beverly & Rampart for the best bellybomb...or maybe just hang out with the local Mara Salvatrucha 18th St. gang.

Fish Grill, great place, but isn't it shut down 1/3 of the year for Passover, Yom Kippor, and Rod Carew's birthday?

Not to pile on, but you drove through "that area" on I-10? That's about three miles south, and in this city a lot can change in 3 miles. If you're near the freeway, land value is low and the neighborhoods aren't so great. In fact, that area sucks and I never stop once I get near the freeway. About the time you hit Olympic, coming north, things get pretty nice. In fact, homes just east of me, in the Larchmont area, go for $750,000 and up.

NashvilleDave - if In 'n'n Out is a 10, Pinks is a 6. upgrade to an 8 if you've been drinking.the thing about Pinks - if you have one on Friday, you don't really feel like eating until maybe a salad on Sunday night.

06-06-03 08:47:28 PM NashvilleDaveHow does "Pink's" compare to "In and Out Burger"?

They are completely different, but both completely wonderful.I can get In 'n' Out here, but damn I miss Pink's...and Farmer's Market...and The Grove...and the Beverly Center...and the Pantry...and that Thai joint on Fairfax, etc.:(

Speaking of Fairfax, I just got my "You've drank enough beer to get your name on our wall" shamrock over at Tom Bergin's pub on Fairfax, about ten blocks from the fire. Tom Bergin's? Irish coffee anyone?

Does anyone else find it seriously f@%#ed up that, now, anytime the smallest little thing happens in America, like a small plane landing on an apartment building, it's instantly international news? More people probably died in CA today in traffic accidents...

Santa Monica airport is a small airport. I work 2 blocks from the airport and it was cloudy here. If it was a small Cessna landing at Santa Monica durring the daytime while it was cloudy, it was probably an instrument flight lesson.

"One less person for me to explain how to pronounce Cahuenga Blvd. to."

Ha, Oncelar. And La Cienega, Los Feliz...

Right. Because it's so hard to pronounce words in a phonetic language like Spanish.

/rolls eyes

Oh, and by "that area", I just meant the LA area. I didn't actually drive through town, just around the outskirts on the freeways. The air was so foul I could hardly see, and I could taste it from 90 miles away. I could feel my lungs blackening as I drove.

To be fair, I end up down there once every year or two (lots of family) and that was the worst I've ever seen it. Still, it was so disgusting I couldn't imagine EVER living there. Not that Seattle won't be exactly the same in another 20 years...

Santa Monica Airport is very small most people don't even know it's there.And anyway what about the pig???And the police are treating the scene as a crime scene not an accident.So W.T.F. it's the media that are shouting terrorsim because of that.

Just wanted to say, I live about a mile away from there and still, at 10:45pm, there are police and/or news helicopters circling the scene.

Not that there aren't police helicopters circling L.A. constantly anyway.

Also nice to know I have so many neighbors who are FARKers. Also, to those of you who don't live here who are trying to sum up the layout of this city, thanks for the laughs! Especially you, Xur. I know many fine folks who have lived in both L.A. and Seattle, and all agree that they preferred L.A. Why? The people.

That was weird, I'm normally working immediately next to the Santa Monica airport, but I was helping a friend move in West Hollywood. Saw the fire while eating at Mel's, but didn't know anything about it until we tried to drive down Beverly almost to Fairfax to go to Pampa. Looking at the mapquest thing above, that was all of four blocks from it.

Traffic wasn't horrible though, but they were directing traffic at Beverly and Fairfax, and I understand Fairfax was closed at that point.

Speaking of, for all you farkers that live near there, there's a girl who works at the Pampa on Beverly who is absolutely farking gorgeous. Go check her out. Good lord, I was reduced to a mumbling idiot, she was SO HOT.

the fact that you're speaking english doesn't negate the fact that spanish is phoenetic. you may have an argument that the street sign isn't obviously easily pronouncable to the average english speaker, and phoenetically the word doesn't work out, but that's not what you said. you said spanish isn't phoenetic, which is virtually the opposite of the truth. spanish is much more intuitively phoenetic than say, english. the kicker, of course, is the word phoenetic itself, which is fonetico in spanish. much better, more streamlined rendition of sound.

Yes....I agree it's a laugh seeing people try and figure out LA. LA has various parts to it. If you don't understand it, you probably never quite will, especially the culture here.

Never understand how people saw everyone is selfish or whatever, or not the same as small towns. Well, you know what, you are what you make of a situation. Wanna know someone, get out there and make your prescense(sp?) known....say hi, etc.

You know, the smog isn't bad in LA only till we get warm. Not that I'm gonna say we're NOT a smoggy city. But smog happens when the air gets trapped from heat and no wind to push it away. During the "winter", the smog isn't such a big deal. It's the warmer spring and summer days that aren't "picturesque."

Still can't beat a winter day where it's clear as can be and you can see the mountains and beach at the same time. At certain points in LA, like at the Getty, you can see the two and Catalina Island as well.

I don't claim to know other cities(aside from Las Vegas) but I know my LA. The good and bad of it. :)

DerekSD, quit proving yourself to be a moron. The language we're using here is obviously Spanish, as it's a Spanish word. Anybody who has studied even the most basic Spanish knows it is absolutely a phonetic language. That is, if you know how a word is spelled, you know how it is pronounced, because the letters always sound the same. True, there are some letter pairs that sound different, but these pairs are also phonetic. Why the hell would I try to use rules of English grammar to pronounce a Spanish word? It's no great challenge to see a word in SoCal that looks Spanish and know how to pronounce it. The fact that you think it is can only be a testament to your own ignorance.

I'd also like to see how you fare trying to pronounce words like "Puyallup" and "Sequim" - you know, since you seem to place such great importance on trivialities like knowing how to pronounce place names.

And for the rest of you, as I said, I've been to LA many times and that was the worst pollution I've ever seen there by far. Still, the knowledge that it does get that bad, even if only for a few days a year, would make me want to move asap. Even Seattle is starting to get smoggy in the summertime - the only reason it doesn't get really bad is that our crappy weather usually cleans the air out before too long. In a few years it won't be enough, though. I could blame all you Californians who have moved up here in the last couple of decades, but it's really the fault of our dysfunctional government that can't pull their heads out long enough build a decent mass transit system, no matter how many times we vote for one.

I was thinking of Canter's too. They'd have deserved it though for forgetting my cole slaw TWICE IN A ROW (bastards). Actually, it would have been better if they'd hit Damiano's, the pizza place across the street from Canter's. God I hate that place. Guy who works there is a bastard.

I work in the Fairfax district, and when I was there at about 5:30, they were directing traffic (rather needlessly)at the corner of Fairfax and Beverly. There was a sign that said "Road closed due to Parade" on hand... guess they were out of "Road closed due to Plane Crash" signs.

Other notable establishments in the area: Largo, the club which a few hours later would be filled with quasi-celebrities watching Jon Brion and wannabes hoping to catch a glimpse of Fiona Apple; The Laemmle theatre currently showing the Israel Film Festival; That crazy new Exxon station that cost a couple million and took about two years to build.